OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) is widely recognized as a discipline of the intelligence community.

Al Qaeda wants to be seen as the best chance for a fair government in the middle east. Classically their propaganda was that since the people of the mid-east were oppressed by horrible dictators, all of which were lackeys of America (and thus Israel), their only chance for freedom was violent jihad so AQ could help usher in a new Islamic Caliphate (i.e. a new dictator, but this one being a blatant Sunni Islam theocracy claiming to be the heir to Mohammed).

The Arab Spring basically gutted that narrative. It showed that dictators could fall without bloody revolutions (Tunisia and Egypt) and that even violent revolution could succeed without it being a theocratic jihad (Libya). The fact that social media was used to catalyze these revolution was not lost on AQ.

For a short while, they tried a magazine called Inspire, including features such as instructions in bombmaking and how to convert a pickup truck into a bladed death machine meant to drive through crowds and mow them down. The Al Qaeda magazine kind of flopped. Not the least of which was that it probably had more readers in the law enforcement, military, and intelligence communities than among its target audience.

AQ trying to use Facebook is them trying to catch up with the world changing around them, and subvert people who want a peaceful revolution into signing on to join AQ, or at least not oppose them. The thing is, they step into social media, they step out of the shadows, and into cyberspace where they are more easily tracked, and it is a goldmine for OSINT collection and for our cyberwarfare operators.

Arkanaut:Silverstaff: For a short while, they tried a magazine called Inspire, including features such as instructions in bombmaking and how to convert a pickup truck into a bladed death machine meant to drive through crowds and mow them down.

Huh. I actually kinda want to see that, like in a horror movie or something.

Okay, movie pitch -- US soldier and al Qaeda bombmaker have to survive in Afghanistan -- in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. Hijinks ensue!

/Hi CIA -- just a joke, okay? We cool?

Check out "Osombie" on IMDB, looks like a really fantastic movie. No doubt plot and acting are top notch.

Silverstaff:For a short while, they tried a magazine called Inspire, including features such as instructions in bombmaking and how to convert a pickup truck into a bladed death machine meant to drive through crowds and mow them down.

Huh. I actually kinda want to see that, like in a horror movie or something.

Okay, movie pitch -- US soldier and al Qaeda bombmaker have to survive in Afghanistan -- in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. Hijinks ensue!

intelligent comment below:The Bush administration gutted the CIA, all the good analysts left, and they hired a bunch of inexperienced MURKA yahoos with no intelligence. They also pushed out the CIA and gave all the power to the sitting administration and the DoD. The Pentagon runs the show, the CIA is now their support detachment rather than a separate civilian intelligence agency like it was designed (for a reason)

Just one more militarization of government, the military industrial complex knows no limits. And watch out if you try standing in the way.